Serendipity and Learning

The other day I posted a tweet about the Metro work on Outer Ring Road Bangalore and tagged a few infra handles. That tweet got 250 plus likes. Whoever thought infra was s*xy? But it is and if you go to youtube you will find channels who report on the amazing levels of infra building happening in India.  The legion of amateur weathermen in India is impressive. Or for that matter musicians. Or chefs. The amount of acting, singing, art talent in India is visible on instagram where I often found myself wandering into rabbit holes.  And this is India. For every country you will find such rabbit holes of excellence, fun, dedication to craft, practice and learning on the internet. Of course, you will find trash, but well, thats par for the course. But you will also begin to see magic, so to say. Thoughts as I work on sharpening my video skills in preparation for the launch of the worlds first Sanskrit Game - Devabhaasha.  

The internet is a great barrier reducing machine. It removes hurdles from the path of most types of creativity.  Some years ago when blogging was at its peak, it almost threatened to disrupt normal courses of reading. Normal courses were books, magazines - both of which were highly restrictive and had fairly high walls. So, the more connected ones got opportunities regardless of talent. When the talented ones did get opportunities and they mostly returned the favour by making the walls higher. In those days getting published in a newspaper was a big thing. Once blogging came about, anybody could become a writer. It also changed the way people consumed information by breaking down barriers and making the consumption of information a two way process. From blogs to twitter it was a short hop. If it was not for the incessant blogging, there is no way I would have written daily and managed to eventually write my first book. If you are an aspiring writer, the time to start writing is now...

 Over the last year with the growth of OTT - I have ended up watching movies in many languages - some which I understand and many which I dont. But with subtitles, the barrier of language can be transcended.  What is intriguing about movies is the imagination and the stories. Yes. Duh.  But far more intriguing and possibly less obvious is the landscape.  In a Hollywood movie everything happens in NY or LA. In Bollywood much of the events happen in Mumbai or Punjab. In Kerala if it is a Malayalam movie and so on.  Even when they reach a different territory in order to have continuity, a character who speaks the language appears somehow (which again isnt implausible whether in India or abroad).  The imagination happens inside the known geography of the audience (for the most part). And using familiar elements a new story is constructed, yet again. 

As I was discussing this at home - my new found learning in creating videos - my son said, "Learning a technology is not a big deal. It is all about creating the technology" I agree. Just because you are consuming youtube, twitter and facebook and using an android phone or google doesnt make you techno-savvy. You are just a techno savvy user. But that is the starting point. And for the person who is not used to it - it is a big deal.  I remember my father using computers for the first time in the late 90s at work. Indeed when I started working, MSExcel had just started making inroads into finance (it was all Tally and books till then). And the first users were using MSExcel exactly like a book without any advanced features. Most of us who use MSWord or Googledocs - use only the basic features.  So the first step is to learn to use something. That is to be a consumer. 90% of the world are consumers. Probably more.  The next stage is to create content - for whatever reason....

 When was the last time you did something new? Mine was last weekend. When I tried my hand at creating youtube videos. I looked at a few video editing softwares, downloaded it (or used it off the cloud). Obviously, I was not very happy with my first few attempts and kept the video in a private mode.  A few hours later into this trial and error process, I realised that this is no different from blogging - where more than getting the writing right - it is all about getting the idea out there and continuing to work on it - and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  So, I put out my first few videos on the Coolture Designs video channel.  And the friend who had instigate this had warned - your first few videos are going to crappy and you will not have views - but keep at it - videos are the mode of the future (as much I am a reader and a consumer of the printed word more than videos) - so you better learn this skill.  So, that was last weekend. This weekend,...